On the morning of the 23rd of May 2014, ten NPO leaders met at the LIN Center for Community Development, for the meeting of the NPO Leadership Circle. Initiated by LIN, the NPO leadership group is designed to share information and provide training for NPO managers. This meeting’s topic was “Mechanisms for managing decentralized NPO organizations”, Mr. Sơn Pham, LIN’s representative, volunteered to share LIN’s experiences with the participants.
Mr. Sơn introduced the general principles of decentralization, using the example of LIN. He discussed how these principles are applied in his organization which has 6 full-time staff and many volunteers and interns. He explained the importance of clearly defined mission; managing the budget and controlling expenditures; organizing and monitoring bank accounts, supervising and managing personnel who perform varied tasks for the organization; monitoring program performance and outcomes and maintaining organizational transparency, as well as other important principles of decentralization.
Mr. Sơn also presented LIN’s organization chart which included; Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and a staffing structure which included volunteers and interns. With this model, he emphasized how the management structure enables the organization to actively monitor operations, insure accurate reporting and transparency, and insures adherence to management and operational procedures to make sure the organization is always focused on achieving its mission.
After the presentations, the participants split into 2 groups for further discussions. One group discussed decentralization in organizations with paid employees while the other group focused on organizations that mostly utilize volunteers. During these discussions it was concluded that both types of organizations must utilize the same principles of decentralization with some variation dependent on the nature of the activities and the size of the organization.
The next NPO leadership meeting will be held on 4 July, 2014. If you concern this activity, please send an email to: npo@linvn.org.
